The specifics of that scenario aren't important, the point is that when you rush work, quality suffers. Good work done late is better than shoddy work done on time.

I thought they were practically done. It shouldn't take months' worth of delays to do only a little bit of work.

It's about waiting for a window of good weather. Seattle's winters are consistently drizzly, which doesn't lend itself well to road construction.

There's also the matter of giving people and companies time to prepare for the three-week shutdown and the associated disruptions. Metro needs to coordinate extra bus service (during the middle of their own hiring crunch), SDOT needs to prepare for signal re-timings, Amazon will probably deploy some of their own shuttles to West Seattle, the water taxi is going to make extra runs, etc.

I finally found the photo of the front of the signs on the gantry at the north end of the viaduct, taken in 2008. And, they're button copy signs, at least the green ones. However, I think the hand-painted Seattle Center logo has since been hit with graffiti. (Yes, definitely.)

random question, was SR 99 ever supposed to be an interstate in this area?

AFAIK, it never was. I would genuinely be surprised if a direct connection from the viaduct to I-5 was somehow planned, but never materialized.

It was planned. The southern section of the viaduct, which has since been demolished, had ramps stubs for a connection to I-5 and I-90. I'm not sure if, after this connection had been built, the viaduct would have become an interstate. But it's more common than not for interstates to end at other interstates, so it's entirely possible.

random question, was SR 99 ever supposed to be an interstate in this area?

Nope. The early plans for I-5 were drawn up in 1953 (just as the viaduct opened) to cut through downtown but still serve exits and link up to a tollway connecting Tacoma to Everett. This was struck down by the state supreme court a few months after the Interstate program came into being, so it all worked out in the end.

The bike ride's fee goes to fund a lot of great programs run by Cascade, but I'm opting out since I don't have a bike. I did ride in the viaduct run earlier this year using one of the bikeshares, which a dozen other people were doing.

Are you sure those aren't LEDs on the Washington signal? At least on Streetview the green indication in the NB 3-section mounted on the mast arm shaft looks appears to be more of a clear lens than a tinted lens. Compared to this older signal from Chicagoland with incandescent indications, the Washington signal appears to be using LEDs.

Are you sure those aren't LEDs on the Washington signal? At least on Streetview the green indication in the NB 3-section mounted on the mast arm shaft looks appears to be more of a clear lens than a tinted lens. Compared to this older signal from Chicagoland with incandescent indications, the Washington signal appears to be using LEDs.

Actually, they are LEDs. I was wrong. I was assuming that clear lens = LED, colored = incandescent. But we discussed it a few pages ago:

There are a lot of Washington installs that are LEDs. Some are using colored drivers, others are using white, with colored lenses.

It's not the driver that makes the color. It is a combination of the diodes and, if applicable, the phosphor placed over them. "White" LEDs are usually actually blue LEDs with a phosphor coating on the inside of the cap.

I was thinking all the new signals in WA were just newer (ergo brighter) incandescent signals, with actual incandescent signals being older (fading) examples of the same tech: https://goo.gl/YJ65ku

I walked around the new Alaskan Way (now to the west of the viaduct, instead of under it), and the whole situation is a mess for pedestrians coming off the ferry. Cross the street and you have to dodge people using the parking lane without the assistance of a signal or any real help. Someone is going to get hit, especially with the darker nights right now.